Japan

Japan in 2012


All eyes will be on Japan in November 2012 when the IMF and World Bank hold their annual meeting in Tokyo to discuss the state of the world's finances. The meeting had been originally planned to take place in Egypt but was moved due to the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.

Tokyo is the world's largest Metropolitan area .

Japan trended a lot during 2011 due to the devastating Tsunami that hit the region. Tokyo itself is overdue a significant tremor and if one hits close to the huge metropolis like the one in Christchurch (NZ) in early 2011 then the outcome could be catastrophic. (see overview here). 


The large 8.9 earthquake that struck on the 11th March 2011 near Sendai triggered a tsunami warning to the Pacific.  read article here

Japan has banned shipments of rice from an area in Fukushima after high levels of radioactive caesium were detected.





Japan Key Facts and Figures
 
Capital - Tokyo 32.4m pop (Largest Global City)
World Cities 2012
Alpha+ Cities - Tokyo
Beta- Cities - Osaka
Other  Cities - Sendai , Chiba , Fukuoka , Kobe , Nagoya , Hiroshima , Kyoto , Sapporo , Yokohama
Japan Population - 128m (Ranked 9th)
WELT - Japanese economy 3rd largest in the world.
Public Debt by GDP - Japan (Ranked 2nd Highest) 192.90%
Area - 377,873 sq km
Currency - Yen
Language - Japanese
GDP - 4.3trillion USD
Reserve Bank Bank of Japan
Central Bank Rate 0.1%
Inflation 0.3% 
Current Credit Rating  AA- 
Drive on the - left
Calling Code - +81
Internet TLD - .jp
HDI - Ranked 10th (0.960)
HDR Index 2010 - Japan 11th
Press Freedom Index - High 11/178
Star Alliance Hubs - ANA Hubs: Tokyo (Haneda, Narita) 
G20 Member - Japan 
APEC Member - Japan (see APEC article )  
Global 500 Companies - 68/500 (see below)
WWF - Japanese Site - シリーズ：クマの保護管理を考える（３）　宮城・蔵王での「クマのための畑」づくり
Hard Rock Cafes - Fukuoka  Nagoya  Narita  Osaka Osaka Universal Tokyo Roppongi
Tokyo Uyeno Eki Yokohama

The Japanese Yen is the currency of Japan. The most popular Japan Yen exchange rate is the JPY to USD rate. The Japanese central bank is called the Bank of Japan (BOJ). The Japanese Yen is the third-most traded currency on the forex market, as many institutions and individuals trade the JPY.

Japan Conferences and Exhibitions 2012
Japan IT week 2012
Data Warehouse and CRM Expo - May 9-11 2012 Tokyo Big Sight
Ridex - RFID Solutions Expo - May 9-11 Tokyo Big Sight


Trending on PocketInfo | Japan

Bird flu resurfaces in Asia - strain found in Vietnam threatens Japan this winter

Japan is the largest consumer of seafood

News Jan 5 2012 | A bluefin tuna has been sold for $736,000 dollars in Tokyo - a price nearly double 2011's record sale. The winning bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura (left), owner of a sushi restaurant chain. Japan is the world's biggest consumer of seafood, eating about 80% of the Atlantic and Pacific bluefins caught.

Sports | Japan

• Formula One 2011 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka) 07 - 09 Oct 2011
• World Cup 2012 - Qualifiers
• Rugby World Cup New Zealand 2011 - Groups
• Japanese Women win 2011 World Cup beat USA in the Final

Global 500 Companies | Japan

Country Rank	Company	Global 500 rank	Revenues ($ millions)	City
1	Toyota Motor	10	204,352	Toyota
2	Japan Post Holdings	11	198,700	Tokyo
3	Nippon Telegraph & Telephone	44	103,684	Tokyo
4	Honda Motor	51	99,652	Tokyo
5	Hitachi	52	99,544	Tokyo
6	Nissan Motor	67	83,982	Tokyo
7	Panasonic	79	77,298	Osaka
8	Sony	81	76,945	Tokyo
9	Nippon Life Insurance	96	66,621	Osaka
10	Toshiba	97	66,239	Tokyo
11	Nippon Oil	101	64,198	Tokyo
12	Mitsubishi	114	61,182	Tokyo
13	Tokyo Electric Power	124	58,605	Tokyo
14	Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group	128	56,514	Tokyo
15	Seven & I Holdings	129	56,107	Tokyo
16	Mitsui	131	55,098	Tokyo
17	Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance	139	52,012	Tokyo
18	AEON	140	51,945	Chiba
19	Nippon Steel	157	47,479	Tokyo
20	Fujitsu	161	46,714	Tokyo
21	NEC	182	41,962	Tokyo
22	Marubeni	189	39,839	Tokyo
23	Canon	190	39,611	Tokyo
24	JFE Holdings	194	38,903	Tokyo
25	Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance	197	38,082	Tokyo
26	Nippon Mining Holdings	203	37,533	Tokyo
27	Mitsubishi Electric	215	36,483	Tokyo
28	Sumitomo Life Insurance	217	36,308	Osaka
29	Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	225	35,365	Tokyo
30	Mizuho Financial Group	228	34,983	Tokyo
31	Sumitomo	229	34,954	Tokyo
32	Tokio Marine Holdings	231	34,870	Tokyo
33	KDDI	232	34,814	Tokyo
34	Itochu	238	34,034	Osaka
35	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries	243	33,602	Tokyo
36	Idemitsu Kosan	244	33,522	Tokyo
37	Showa Shell Sekiyu	266	31,664	Tokyo
38	Bridgestone	270	31,292	Tokyo
39	Denso	271	31,282	Kariya
40	Suzuki Motor	290	29,911	Hamamatsu
41	Cosmo Oil	293	29,710	Tokyo
42	Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings	302	28,957	Tokyo
43	Sharp	309	28,341	Osaka
44	Japan Tobacco	312	28,141	Tokyo
45	Kansai Electric Power	324	27,768	Osaka
46	East Japan Railway	329	26,846	Tokyo
47	Softbank	332	26,608	Tokyo
48	T&D Holdings	349	25,282	Tokyo
49	Mazda Motor	352	25,242	Hiroshima
50	Chubu Electric Power	356	24,984	Nagoya
51	Mediceo Paltac Holdings	364	24,522	Tokyo
52	Fujifilm Holdings	369	24,232	Tokyo
53	Nippon Yusen	371	24,188	Tokyo
54	Aisin Seiki	417	22,043	Kariya
55	Kobe Steel	429	21,673	Kobe
56	Sumitomo Electric Industries	437	21,122	Osaka
57	Ricoh	445	20,821	Tokyo
58	Maruhan	452	20,465	Kyoto
59	Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings	458	20,306	Tokyo
60	Komatsu	460	20,124	Tokyo
61	Mitsubishi Motors	470	19,645	Tokyo
62	Japan Airlines	474	19,422	Tokyo
63	Kajima	478	19,396	Tokyo
64	Alfresa Holdings	482	19,260	Tokyo
65	Shimizu	491	18,789	Tokyo
66	Yamada Denki	496	18,632	Takasaki
67	Kirin Holdings	498	18,604	Tokyo
68	Mitsui OSK Lines	500	18,572	Tokyo

Blogs about Japan
Space Travels a Crime | Blog

Japanese Man wins WWF Award | The biennial Smart Gear competition seeks innovative, environmentally-friendly ways to reduce the amount of fisheries bycatch – a problem that causes the death of millions of tonnes of untargeted marine life, such as non-commercial or juvenile fish, marine mammals, turtles and seabirds that are caught in fishing gear and then thrown back to sea. This unintentional or unused catch is estimated to account for at least 40% of what is taken from our oceans each year and contributes heavily to overfishing.

This year’s US$30,000 grand prize was awarded to Kazuhiro Yamazaki, a captain on a Japanese tuna vessel who also received another tuna prize of US$7,500, granted by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), for the idea that would reduce the amount of bycatch specifically occurring in tuna fisheries. (Full story here )

World Book Night 23rd April 2012 | Books About Japan

Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami

When he hears her favorite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo...




Book a hotel in Japan

Japan , Tokyo , Asia , Bank of Japan , Yen , Technology - Updated Jan 9th 2012